Exit Polls: Bulgarian President Wins

Bulgaria's President Georgi Parvanov, waves to supporters celebrating victory at the presidential elections, in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, Sunday, Oct. 29, 2006. An exit poll indicated that Bulgaria's pro-European President Georgi Parvanov won a second five-year term in Sunday's election runoff defeating his ultranationalist challenger by a wide margin. According to the poll, conducted by the National Center for Public Opinion Research, Parvanov received 78 percent of the vote, while 22 percent of voters supported Volen Siderov. (AP Photo/ Darko Vojinovic) (Darko Vojinovic - AP)

SOFIA, Bulgaria -- Bulgaria's pro-Western president appeared headed to an easy victory in a runoff election Sunday against a maverick ultranationalist who criticized his successful effort to lead the former communist nation into the European Union, according to an exit poll.

The poll by the National Center for Public Opinion Research said nearly four-fifths of voters backed incumbent Georgi Parvanov and the rest supported Volen Siderov.

Siderov conceded defeat after the first exit poll results were announced. "I lost to a disproportionately strong rival, who enjoyed the backing of almost all other parties," he told reporters.

The presidency is a largely ceremonial position, with the real power held by the prime minister and parliament. Still, the president carries moral authority and legislative veto power.

Parvanov, a 49-year-old historian and former leader of the Socialist Party, became the first Bulgarian president to win re-election since the fall of communism in 1989 and will formally preside over the country joining the EU on Jan. 1.

"We anticipated this result on the basis ... of expectations that people will give credit to what we have done in the past five years," Parvanov told reporters.

Parvanov enjoys wide popularity mainly because of his pro-European views.

Before becoming president in 2001, Parvanov led the Socialist Party, the former communists, and managed to persuade the party to back Bulgaria's drive to join NATO in 2004 and now the EU.

"The re-election of Georgi Parvanov for a second five-year term is in fact a pro-EU referendum of the Bulgarian citizens," Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev told reporters.

He said the wide margin over Siderov was "a clear mark of the pro-EU choice of Bulgaria and the maturity of the democratic instincts within the Bulgarians."

Political analysts said Parvanov's re-election was a sign of the Balkan country's stabilization.

"It is another proof that the transition period in Bulgaria is over. During the transition a president's re-election would have been impossible, and this is exactly what we see now," said Kantcho Stoychev.

Going into the runoff, most of the country's mainstream parties backed Parvanov, who ran as an independent. Even some right-wing politicians expressed support, if only because they disliked his rival.

The main parties accused Siderov of being "anti-European" because of his calls for the revision of some privatization deals and for renegotiating the conditions of Bulgaria's EU membership.

Despite conceding defeat, Siderov stressed his party had doubled its result from last year's parliamentary elections. "For me this is not a loss, but just a stage in our party's development," he said.

Siderov rose to national prominence last year when his newly formed ultranationalist party Ataka, or Attack, won almost 9 percent of the votes in parliamentary elections and became the fourth largest party in Bulgaria.

Siderov drew the votes of people disillusioned with the tough social and economic reforms that were needed for Bulgaria to qualify for EU entry.

Bulgaria's recovery from a disastrous economic crisis in the mid-1990s has still yet to translate into personal wealth for ordinary people. With average pay of $200 a month, Bulgarians will be among the poorest in the EU.